Friday, October 10, 2008

Moby Gets Kicked Out of His Own Band



Moby starts an old school punk band with teenage craigslist recruits...and then gets kicked out of his own band. I guess the fact that I've listened to the bands he cites means that I'm getting old. Whether you love Moby or hate Moby, I think this video is pretty entertaining ... and telling.
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Guns N' Roses "Chinese Democracy" has a release date!

Maybe Axl should consider bringing back the biker shorts.

After 15 years and a reported $13 million in production costs, Billboard announced that Guns N' Roses "Chinese Democracy" will be released before the end of the year, on Nov. 23. Click here to see the billboard article.

So I guess everyone really will get a Dr. Pepper! That's if the album actually does see the light of day.
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Friday, October 3, 2008

MTV Europe Gets Rickrolled



Rickrolling has entered a new stratosphere: the MTV Europe Music Awards!

Rick Astley has been nominated alongside Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Green Day, Tokio Hotel, and U2 in the "best act ever" award category. Ooh... Ahh... Behold, the power of the democratic, web 2.0 internet.

MTV Europe currently has a debate page about Astley's place in the "best act ever" category. According to the poll on the MTV Europe site, 99.98% of the votes say that Astley deserves to be nominated for the category.

Personally, I find the moniker "best act EVER" a bit ridiculous, especially in light of the majority of the acts that are nominated. I am all for rickrolling this event and will do so with the giddiness of a little school girl.

To take part in the rickrolling, click here and vote for Rick Astley under the "best act ever" category. Help ensure Rickrolling's proper space in the annals of pop-culture infamy!
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Introducing: Eddie

Just wanted to introduce myself to the few of you in the vast blogosphere that may be reading this blog. My name is Eddie, and I'm one of the blokes behind Motorcade Audio. I will be helping to update this blog with periodic music news and idiotic music potpouri. Enjoy!
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Monday, September 29, 2008

Death to Carmina Burana

I reach for my gun every time I hear Orff's 'Carmina Burana'; and I hear it everywhere: TV, film, amateur videos on Youtube. I can't think of a more pervasive piece of music utilized in media. Ever. Why is it? How is it? Yes, it's an exhilarating composition with driving rhythms, bombast, and is widely accessible, given it was written in the 1930s. I just don't understand the preeminent role it plays, how absolutely over saturated it has become. Gotta put baby to bed? Brahms 'lullaby'. Gettin' married? Wagner's 'wedding march' (the actual wedding march from 'Lohengrin', at least). Need a musical solution for your action movie/horror movie/car commercial/etc.? Look no further, as 'Carmina Burana' can automatically connect with your target audience!

How does it connect? We've heard it all before, is how, as it omnipresent. The question really should be, how is it connecting? What is its connotive value? Since we've heard it before, wouldn't something more unique work better? Isn't ownership an issue? It's your project, so why emulate and dilute? Get creative. Take a risk.

Leave 'Carmina Burana' to the concert hall, at least while the rest of us catch up.
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Sunday, June 22, 2008

Pump Up the Volume

The first wave was unexpected, rolling over my head and leaving me slightly disorientated. The second wave I was a little better prepared for and, having anticipated it correctly, pulled me from within and pushed me out on top of it all. This is what the payoff was, certainly: a transcendental experience not found in nature. My waves were not oceanic and I wasn’t surfing – my waves were decibels, sound waves so large they shook my bowels and rattled my skull. Luckily, I had earplugs in, as did the rest of my section (Tenor 3) and the rest of the orchestra. These waves were part of the score, written in for the exact effect I was both participant and recipient in. I was playing electric guitar in Glenn Branca’s 13th Symphony along with 50 other musicians, grinding out an exhilarating hour-long performance with my amp turned up as loud as possible.

I had been wanting to do this for many years. As an undergrad in music school, I idolized Branca. I was already a fan of Sonic Youth, who owes quite a debt to Branca (Lee Renaldo’s infamous chord cluster was pulled from Branca’s technique, not to mentioned both he and Thurston Moore played in a few symphonies themselves). He was also already a living member of the Grove Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians – the dude had arrived. I did what any undergrad would do – wrote a paper (on his third symphony for my analysis class). I’m sure that paper is now incomprehensible, trying to infer theoretical structure on pure visceral and ephemeral beauty. Branca became a big influence on my composing and still informs my aesthetics, to some degree. Regardless, many years later, I was so jacked to finally participate that I sacrificed my “obligations” and showed up ready and willing. One month later, I can’t think of a better decision I’ve made this year.

There’s something about participation in a large ensemble – regardless of the type of music – that allows for something much greater than ones ego. It’s when your section aligns perfectly, creating symmetry and informing the whole. You tend to abandon yourself, whilst simultaneously being completely in the moment. I couldn’t help myself. I banged my head. Evidence is here: (I’m far to the left and in and out of frame). What can I say? The music moved me, and that wave churned over and over again.

The type of music I composed prior to performing in an electric guitar orchestra had been increasingly tonal, which I’m still largely committed to, but there were intangibles in that orchestra – aural anomalies, churning swarms and strains of phantom voices that were bi products of high volume – which, once heard and experienced, become a new source of inspiration and artistic aspiration. Now, as I consider my next piece, I can’t admit to not tinkering again with many, many guitars, all amplified. Parked at 10.

I’m already looking forward to the next performance.
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